This is an AutoGeneratedTextVersion of Wormholes

a game of starship tactics for the piecepack

by Marty Hale-Evans (marty@martynet.org)and Ron Hale-Evans (rwhe@ludism.org)
[version 0.6, 2001-10-01]
2 playersApprox. 20 minutes
The Story
In a distant spiral galaxy, even now, two alien factions wage a terrible (yet strangely
nonviolent) warover a matter of deep philosophical import. The Orthodox OrthogonAliens
believe that peanut-buttersandwiches should be sliced lengthwise, and their opponents,
the Devout DiagonAliens, believe thatpeanut-butter sandwiches should be sliced into
little triangles.
Both sides employ hyperspace technology that can transport their own ships across the
galaxy, or sendtheir opponents into black holes. The victors in this war shall rule
their galaxy unto the most distant ages-- and perhaps one day, our galaxy as well.
Players take turns placing "wormholes" (coins) on the spaces of a spiral board
representing the galaxy.Wormholes can send players’ starships (pawns) through
hyperspace across the galaxy; some wormholesare actually "black holes" (null coins)
that can cause you to lose your next turn. After all wormholeshave been placed, players
try to land one of their starships on an opposing base, diving into wormholesthat will
send them toward it, while avoiding black holes, wormholes that will send them the
wrong way,and their opponents’ ships, which can send them back across the galaxy by
landing on the same space.
1. Take all piecepack tiles. Set one aside and lay the remaining 23 face down (grid
side up) in thefollowing pattern:

2. Each player chooses a side in whatever manner the players agree upon, deciding which
will playthe OrthogonAliens and which the DiagonAliens. The OrthogonAlien player takes
the suits ofSuns and Moons (all coins, dice, and pawns). The DiagonAlien player takes
the suits of Crownsand Arms (all coins, dice, and pawns). Each player places two
starships (pawns) in the two spacesat the very end of the nearest spiral arm, as in the
diagram above.
3. Roll dice. The high roller chooses whether to place wormholes first or move first;
the other playertakes the other option. (It may be hard to decide when you first play,
but you will probablydevelop a preference with experience.)
4. The player who places the first wormhole chooses any space on the board (apart from
the players’bases), and places a wormhole (one of his coins) there, suit side up. The
other player then placesone of her wormholes on any space that does not already contain
a base or wormhole, suit side up.Players alternate placing wormholes in this manner
until all wormholes have been placed. Once awormhole is placed, neither player can look
at its hidden side until it is activated (see below).
Wormhole Directionality
Each suit designates an axis along which a starship may move, although a player can
choose inwhich direction along the axis to make the wormhole jump. The length of the
jump is determinedby the value on the other side of the coin.

Suns north/south
Moons east/west
Crowns northwest/southeast
Arms northeast/southwest

The OrthogonAliens and the DiagonAliens cannot agree which north is north, but they do
agreethat the galactic north/south axis runs through the long direction of the board
(across which youface your opponent), and the east/west axis runs perpendicularly
through the short direction. Thatis, your "north" is always toward your opponent, and
the other directions follow.
1. On your turn, roll both dice, one of each colour corresponding to your pawns. Then,
move eachstarship the number of spaces indicated on its corresponding die, in any
direction you like(orthogonally or diagonally). Both sides may choose either orthogonal
or diagonal moves whenmoving according to a die roll.
Starships must move in a straight line on each roll; if a starship cannot move as many
spaces as thedie indicates without leaving the board, it cannot move in that direction.
If a ship cannot move thenumber of spaces indicated in any direction, the ship cannot
move at all. Ships may not "shortcut"by leaving the board, crossing an area outside the
board, and re-entering the board at the end of themove.
If a ship’s die comes up null, the ship does not move. If a ship moves over other ships
andwormholes, but does not land on them, they are unaffected. (Since space is three-
dimensional,starships can jump over wormholes and other starships.)
You must use both die rolls if you can; you may not choose not to use a die roll, even
if your onlyavailable move is not in an advantageous direction. You may use either die
roll first.
2. If your die roll lands your ship on an empty space, it simply remains there until
its next move.
3. If your die roll lands your ship on a space that contains a wormhole, you "activate"
the wormhole.Activating a wormhole does two things: (1) it lets you see the other side
of the coin, and (2) iteither transports your starship elsewhere (if the coin is not
null), or makes your starship lose a turn(if the coin is null). To be more specific:
4. When you activate a wormhole, first flip it over, making sure your opponent also
sees both sides.You should flip the wormhole coin regardless of which side was showing
when you landed on it,and you should place it back on the board so that the opposite
side is up. If the wormhole causesno movement effect (if there are no possible legal
moves, for some reason), flip it anyway, butdon’t move your starship.
5. If the wormhole is not a null, you must jump your ship along the axis specified on
its suit side, bythe number of spaces specified on its value side. If you cannot move
that number of spaces in one

of that suit’s directions, your ship cannot move in that direction, and you must move
in the otherdirection, if you can.
If the jump from a wormhole lands your ship on a space containing another wormhole, it
does notactivate that wormhole on this turn. However, if that ship’s next roll is a
null, the wormhole isactivated, since the ship does not move (effectively landing on
the same space).
If a ship lands on a wormhole that has been activated previously (and therefore
flipped), the shipmakes the hyperspace jump normally associated with that wormhole, and
flips the wormholeagain. Each time a wormhole is activated, it is flipped again.
6. If your ship activates a wormhole with a null value, it has landed in a black hole.
That ship losesits next turn. The player may complete the movement of her other ship,
and the other ship maytake its next turn, unless it too is in a black hole.
After a ship in a black hole loses a turn, if its next roll is a null, the black hole
is re-activated, andthe ship loses another turn.
7. If your starship lands on a space containing one of your opponent’s starships, you
may transporthis ship to somewhere else in the galaxy - to any space that does not
contain your own ship,including back to one of his bases or onto a black hole. If you
send your opponent’s starship to awormhole, it activates that wormhole.
All ships have automatic safety features, so you cannot land on your own starship;
treat a squarecontaining your own ship as if it were off the edge of the board. If your
only move will land youon your own ship, you cannot move.
8. If you land on an opponent’s starship by die roll, and that starship is in a
wormhole, first send herthrough hyperspace to another space on the board, then activate
the wormhole. If you land on anopponent in a wormhole via wormhole jump, send your
opponent elsewhere via hyperspace, butdo not activate the second wormhole.
9. After both your starships have finished all possible movements, the turn passes to
your opponent.
Game End and Winning
The game ends immediately when one player has landed one starship on one of her
opponent’s bases byexact count, either by die roll or through wormhole jumps, even if
one of the final turn’s die rollsremains unused. That player is the winner.
Try playing with this variant for a longer game:
1. You must land both your starships on your opponent’s bases, not just one. 2. Once a
ship has landed on an opposing base, rolling a die for it is optional, but if you do,
you mustuse the roll.

Strategy Hints
1. It’s generally a good idea to send one ship out to the opponent’s base while keeping
one ship at thenear end of the galaxy to defend your home base from approaching enemy
ships. Either ship canplay either role, however, and you may decide to switch roles in
mid-game, depending on howeach fares.
2. There are two main ways to place wormholes: offensively and defensively. Offensive
wormholesare placed to allow you to teleport onto your opponent’s base. Defensive
wormholes are placed todeflect your opponent away from your base, and perhaps into
3. Strategic use of forced moves is helpful. For example, placing a Sun wormhole at
thenorthernmost edge of the galaxy will force anyone who lands on it to jump south,
since he cannotjump any farther north.
4. Although it is not possible to set up wormhole "chain reactions", since each ship
can only makeuse of one wormhole per turn, it is still possible to set up wormhole
"chains". On the turn after awormhole has sent you to a second wormhole, you have a 1
in 3 chance of getting where thatwormhole was supposed to take you anyway: you might
roll a null, which means your starshipcannot make a regular move but instead activates
the wormhole, or you might roll a "natural" - thatis, roll the value of the wormhole
and get to jump to the next wormhole in the chain as a regularmove. Naturals are
better, as you then get to activate the next wormhole.
5. Memory plays a significant role. It pays to remember where you placed your
wormholes, and eachtime a wormhole is flipped, it pays to remember what was on the
other side, if you can.
6. The two sides are roughly equal in strength. The DiagonAliens can jump across the
galaxy fasterusing their diagonal wormholes, but the OrthogonAliens have an easier time
squeezing into tightspaces such as the end of the board near their opponent’s bases.
(Of course, either side may bebrave enough -- or foolish enough -- to use their
opponent’s wormholes...)
If you are playing the DiagonAliens, however, pay special attention to which suit
designates whichdiagonal axis, because it’s easy to confuse them at first. This may
lead to your placing yourwormholes ineffectively.
Original concept: Marty Hale-Evans.Development and rules write-up: Ron and Marty Hale-
Evans.Graphics: Marty Hale-Evans.Playtesters: Mesomorph Games, Tim Higgins, Mark
Version 0.6: Rules clarified further. Changed win condition (landing 2 ships now a
variant). Tidied"Playtesters".Version 0.5.3: Rules clarified, typos fixed. This History
section added.Version 0.5.2: First public version.

Version 0.5: First playtest version.
Copyright © 2001 by Marty and Ron Hale-Evans. Permission is granted to copy, distribute
and/ormodify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.1 or any laterversion published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.